Teens and Cops Discuss How Education Can Be the Great Equalizer
At a Teen Town Hall, youth and law enforcement leaders talk about high school dropout rates and its connection to crime
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Seven out of 10 inmates in federal prisons do not have a high school diploma. And nearly seven out of 10 black male dropouts spend time in prison by their mid-30s.
Research suggests that a 10-point increase in graduation rates would reduce murder and assault rates by 20 percent. That would prevent approximately 3,400 murders and more than 170,000 aggravated assaults in the U.S. each year.
At a teen town hall in Michigan, law enforcement leaders and young people talked about more often than not, dropping out of school and lack of education were the starting points for many who ending up turning to crime.
The takeaways? Teens can get their peers to understand that education is one of the the greatest equalizers. Also, youth and law enforcement need to be willing to talk to each other and learn from each other.